Sarnen

Sarnen stands at the northern end of Lake Sarnen, amid the mountains of Obwalden. A donation to the monastery of St Leodegar in Lucerne, made between 825 and 909, records the place as Sarnono. A fire in 1468 destroyed at least twenty-two houses, including the town hall built in 1418. During the Helvetic Republic Sarnen became a district centre in the canton of Waldstätten; in 1803 Obwalden regained its sovereignty and Sarnen again became its chief town.